The online risk monitoring and management company, Cyveillance, gathered data and reported that the average daily count of URLs hosting malicious downloads rised to 60,000 in February, 200 percent over the December 2006. A single-day spike mid-month came close to 140,000 such sites. The report was entitled “Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft 2007,” and highlights the growth of Internet attacks and identifies the industries most at risk. Using advanced Internet monitoring technology, Cyveillance’s security experts have identified that the two leading online identity theft risks, phishing and malware, increased significantly in the first two months of 2007, with the number of brands being phished growing by 50 percent and malware attacks growing by 200 percent. As part of its research, the company has also specifically identified more than 1 million suspected stolen social security numbers on the Internet, in just the last two months.

    One of the biggest increases that Cyveillance monitored was the phishing attacks. The number of companies being phished has been consistently growing by more than 200 new brands each quarter, with a recent increase of 50% from January to February, up from 800 to 1,200 unique brands phished.

The attacks targeted:

1. Credit Unions – 584 percent increase
2. Associations – 329 percent increase
3. Banks – 325 percent increase
4. Insurance – 300 percent increase
5. Payment Services – 285 percent increas

    Malware evolved from a simple nuisance to more malicious threats focused on financial gain. There was more than 200% growth of malware threats during January and February 2007, with well over 1 million unique Web pages containing some type of malware. Cyveillance data shows that in December 2006, the average number of URLs detected with malware averaged less than 20,000 on a daily basis. By February 2007 this average had grown to approximately 60,000 sites daily, with a single day mid-month spike of close to 140,000. This data points to significant long term growth of this risk, as more individuals and organizations view malware as a revenue-generating fraud technique.

    Panos Anastassiadis, CEO of Cyveillance, stated: “As our research shows, the breadth and depth of online risk are on the rise, with increasingly elaborate attack schemes and tactics. As a leader in Internet monitoring, we are dedicated to providing online risk monitoring and management solutions that deliver early warning of threats to an organization’s information, infrastructure and individuals. By utilizing our comprehensive data sets, chief security officers can proactively protect their company’s reputation, revenues and customer trust.”

For more information visit the web site: www.cyveillance.com/IDTheftreport